Jim Rimmer, is currently (in 2006) enjoying his fifty-fourth year in the pursuit of fine typography. His background includes years with hot metal type in the composing room, and in the operation of the linotype and the Monotype – of which he still has a large and active collection of differing machine models. He is still designing and cutting faces in metal in concert with those that he is designing for digital format on his Macintosh. In 2000 and 2001 he completed two hot metal faces and has recently finished a third: Hannibal Oldstyle for the printing of the book: Tom Sawyer in 2006. He goes on to use these typefaces in the books that he designs, illustrates, prints and occasionally writes for his own private press, the Pie Tree Press in Vancouver.

His experience in graphic design covers over 40 years, encompassing positions in advertising agencies and design studios. For more than 25 years he has had the good fortune to experience the mixed blessings of freelancing as a letterer, designer, and illustrator. In addition he served as Type Director of Lanston during its time in Vancouver and made the digital versions of the Cloister, Deepdene and Garamont fonts for the Lanston Type Company.

Rimmer Type Foundry is the gathering of Jim’s metal typefounding knowledge and hand skills with his many years as a lettering artist into something useable in the digital font world. The foundry leans in the direction of traditional type forms but does address the need to offer more contemporary type styles.